(Mirror (UK) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) SOFTWARE giant Microsoft yesterday announced it is to axe up to 18,000 staff - a seventh of its global workforce - over the next year.

Most losses will be in its Nokia arm, the mobile phone business it bought for Pounds 4.6billion last September.

The firm refused to say how many jobs will go in the UK where it employs 3,500 people at Reading, London and Edinburgh.

Microsoft has seen its dominance of the software market wane with the rise of rivals such as Apple.

The cull, the biggest in the firm's 39-year history, is of one of the first major moves by Satya Nadella, who replaced Steve Ballmer as boss in February.

He had already warned jobs were under threat as part of the Nokia takeover.

He told his 127,000 staff: "We will simplify the way we work to drive greater accountability, become more agile and move faster."
Most cuts will take place by the end of the year.

They are far deeper than the 5,800 jobs Mr Ballmer axed in 2009. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft had huge success with Windows and Office software but was late adapting to change.

Google has become dominant in online searches while Android devices and Apple's iPhones and iPads have hit the company hard. Attempts by Microsoft to manufacture its own devices have run into problems with its Surface tablets yet to turn a profit.

graham.hiscott@mirror.co.uk
We will simplify to become more agile and move faster BOSS SATYA NADELLA in email to all workers
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